Project managers typically use a project management software program to track the status of a given project they are managing. Users who are working on implementing the project often access the project management software and can provide updates on the status of one or more tasks.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get a true picture of what is going on in a project, even when the project manager works closely with the team to monitor the status. One reason is because there may be complex tasks and timelines for the project, multiple people working on it, and moving targets which make it tough to really see the true picture. There could be tasks that are not being worked on at all, tasks that will put the project off track in terms of cost or completion time, and so on. The project management software that is being used by the project manager is not likely to provide this level of detail. In such scenarios, either the project manager or the users working on the project will have to manually notice when these obstacles arise, if they even notice it at all.